Dragalia Singularity
by Eryku
Summary: Mash, Ritsuka and Lancelot find themselves sucked into another world through a forced Rayshift of sorts. They wake suddenly in a misty forest filled with monsters. A Local knight comes to their aid and they are brought to his lord's castle to learn the state of this world, see if they are here for a reason and hopefully, ultimately, find a way home.


In the midst of a dark forest known as the Banewood, a thick fog rolls eternal and fiends run rampant. Adults and children alike are urged to stay away from this place due to its immense dangers, though occasionally some wander in, be they foolish, ignorant or courageous. However, on one faithful evening,a dark tear appeared in the fabric of reality, right in the center of the wood. The warped trees almost seemed to sway in response to this distortion, though in reality it was just the wind. Eventually, this rift spat out three sleeping travelers from a far off land unbeknown to them or anyone in the surrounding areas. These three were a red headed young lady in a white top and black skirt, a girl with pink hair and purple eyes in a dark and revealing suit of armor of sorts and finally, the third person was a strong looking man in a pure white suit of heavy armor, a large gold blade upon his back, his hair was a light shade of purple and his eyes were as well. Slowly, after releasing these people, the tear in reality closed shut without a trace.

The three of these people were all still out cold but that did not stop the fiends from noticing them. Slowly but surely as these strangers slept, the fiends of the Banewood began to encircle them. They were surrounded in an unknown place in an unknown world by unknown enemies and were entirely unaware. One of the smaller fiends let out a small growl of anticipation and this caused the girl with pink hair to stir, her purple eyes slowly opening to look around and see themselves by strange monsters. She jumped to her feet in a hurry and pulled out her great shield. Her eyes darted to those of her colleagues to see all of who was with her. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of the purple haired man because this was not the time for grudges and squabbles.

"Master, it's time to wake up!" she yelled, "We are in an unknown location and currently surrounded by enemies! Servant Mash is awaiting your orders!"

The red head stirred and quickly came to her senses, jumping to her feet. Her orange eyes darted around rapidly to take in the situation, turning her body only as much as she needed. She was definitely not a fight so being left with only two allies in the presence of this many unknown enemies was definitely less than ideal. One could argue it was dire, in fact. Her eyes went out to the purple haired man who was just now rising to his feet and readying his large blade.

"Yes, Master," he said simply, "Give your orders and I shall see to it that they are carried out."

The red head gave a firm nod, "Mash, hold them back as well as you can with your shield. Lancelot, pick off any that let their guard down or wind up dazed from Mash's shield strikes. This will be a battle of endurance and we should conserve energy as much as possible if we're to get out of it in one piece!"

"Yes, master, engaging the enemy defensively!" the girl known as Mash confirmed enthusiastically.

The fight started off easily enough. The young master stood in the middle while her servants stood on either side of her. Mash blocking the attacks and swinging openly with her large shield when a clear opening presented itself and on the other side, Lancelot held back waves of fiends with his large sword, capable of cleaving several at once if they aligned themselves conveniently enough, which did tend to happen with this ignorant pack of blood thirsty fiends. Intelligence and organization wasn't common with lesser fiends unless a greater one was leading them. On this went for a while, occasionally one would nearly slip through and get the unarmed red head but Mash would always react quickly by either jumping ahead or occasionally casting a very brief protective enchantment. Once and a while, Lancelot would also step in and pommel strike an enemy to disengage them from his master without risking harm to her with his blade.

Suddenly, as if from no where, there was a high wind pressure beneath them and a strong gust of wind blew the three of them off their feet from below. They all quickly clambered to get back into their defensive formation but some rogue fireballs came flying in as well and Mash and Lancelot struggled to intercept them clumsily without letting their master be hit. There was also the risk of the forest burning should they just dimply dodge.

"Caster class enemies confirmed, Master. Any change to your orders?"

Lancelot let out a small sigh, "This just got much more complicated."

"That's enough out of you, deadbeat!" Mash reacted a bit unreasonably, "We need to stay focused and not succumb to pessimism."

Lancelot just sighed again, defeated, "Yes. Master Ritsuka, your orders?"

Ritsuka looked a bit dejected, "Stick to the plan, but call out of you spot any of the caster types and we'll try to navigate towards them slowly, maintaining our formation. Watch for distortions in the air current and avoid the wind spell if it feels like it's coming again. They might cease the opportunity next time."

"Master, I believe I have identified at least one of the caster class enemies. They are a larger and pig-like humanoid holding a staff," Mash said, holding up her shield to block another incoming fireball quickly. It did not come from the same direction.

"I've confirmed two more that meet this description," Lancelot said sadly, "And a flying monster with a big eye that seems to be manipulating the air. It is likely the source of the wind spell."

"The number of casters is bad!" Ritsuka said, "We might be outmatched here…"

"Master, we can't give up!" Mash insisted.

Ritsuka clenched her teeth and bit her thumbnail nervously. She closed her eyes a moment and thought hard, trusting her allies to keep her safe for the time being. She thought as hard as she could but she couldn't think of anything better than they had already been doing. Just as she was about to give up and say they had to keep on the defensive, Mash spoke up.

"Master, I hear somebody approaching at an incredible pace. Judging from the sound, it seems human and heavily armored," she said, adjusting her stance slightly in preparation to potentially need to block a new attacker "The question is are they friend or foe?"

Lancelot spoke up," I believe that-" but before he could finish he was cut off by a shout that pierced the heavens themselves and echoed across the wood.

"JUSTICE SCREAMING COMET SMASH!" Came the roar of a man with brown hair soaring across the sky with a sword encircled by flame. He landed with a heavy impact on one of the spell casting enemies and immediately turned round to run and take out the flying eye ball that Lancelot described. He made quick work of it, rolling past the wind spell it threw at him and coming up with a slash as he rose back up, his sword nearly as large as Lancelot's, "Who's next?!"

"Wh-Who are you?" Mash asked, incredulous at the sight she just witnessed.

The man turned to face her for a moment, his spiky brown hair accented by a couple of red streaks and his brownish orange eyes burning strongly, "My name is Karl, the Karlsplosion, the Inkarldescent. The man of justice! Travelers, I know not if you are friend or foe to the Kingdom of New Alberia, but there will be time for that after we have dispatched these fiendish foes! Justice locked and loaded!" And without waiting for reply, he ran off to pick off whatever enemies he could, seemingly giving priority to the spell casters.

Mash blinked in disbelief, "Master, we have come across another weirdo! But he seems strong and is fighting with us for now. Let's do our part as well!"

"Right!" Ritsuka nodded firmly with a renewed sense of hope and optimism. They could ask this man where they were after this but she certainly had never heard of Alberia, new or old, "Lancelot. Cover the new guy and I'll stick with Mash!"

"Right!" Lancelot smirked and charged in to meet with Karl, seemingly excited to fight alongside another promising swordsman.

With the addition of the swordsman Karl, they made quick work of dispatching the fiends and eventually the rest of them knew they were outmatched and fell back to the fogs and depths of the Banewood. Karl put his sword away and let out a small sigh of relief before grinning and approaching them. Mash and Lancelot both stood in front of Ritsuka and regarded him evenly. Mash bowed lightly when he got close but did not let her guard down either, still with shield in hand.

"Thank you for your help, er, You said your name was Karl?" Mash inquired.

"The Karlsplosion," Ritsuka added.

"Yes!" Karl responded, "I am the man of justice. My name is synonymous with justice the continent over."

"Truly?" Lancelot asked, "You certainly fought with a great deal of skill that I typically only saw in the most seasoned of knights."

Karl smiled sheepishly, "Not yet. But it will be! In any case, travelers! I know not if you are knights of the empire or simply traveling mercenaries protecting this young maiden, but I question why you decided to pass through the ominous place of evil that is the Banewood! Truly reckless behavior to endanger your charge in such a way!"

"The Banewood?" Mash queried, "The truth is, we're not quite from around here, Sir Karl, so we do not know the dangerous areas or the safe ones. We have found ourselves lost and far from home."

"The fog rolls on forever in this cursed place," Karl began to explain, "And a great number of fiends call it home for that reason. It is discouraged for child and adult alike to come near this place. Ever since some children were lost here and nearly died, I patrol it from time to time to make sure that justice is maintained and that people are kept safe!" He puts his fists on his hips proudly, "You say you are lost far from home? That is a convenient tale and your attire, young lady," he said looking at Mash, "Is a bit odd and making me slightly uncomfortable. But the good sir knight at your side fights with such bravery and a shining blade of justice! I feel I can trust you by your association with him alone!"

"I- Um," Mash seemed at a loss for how to respond to all of this. She wanted to dig into Lancelot and say he was far from trustworthy but she thought better of it, given their circumstances, "Thank you, Sir Karl."

Karl laughed, "The Sir is not needed and nor are your thanks! I'll take you to my king and allow him to decide if we can trust you or not."

"Your king?" Lancelot seemed to feel like this was a familiar situation, "What happens if he does not find us trustworthy? We're technically intruders in your land, right?"

"Knowing him, he'd probably let you stay anyway," Karl laughed, "An odd one, that man, but truly was there never a greater proprietor of justice! He will know what to do with you lot! Now, please come with me. It's best we move on before the fiends strike back in greater number."

"Karl, if I may be so straight forward," Lancelot stepped forward, his cape flowing from his hastened step to close the gap, "We do not even know where we are or why we're here. For all we know, fate has brought us here for a reason. If we meet with your king and he is what we need to correct in this land, I cannot promise we will behave peacefully."

"What are you doing?!" Mash asked, "Master, permission to beat this numb skull over the head? I feel he probably deserved it before now for some reason anyway."

Ritsuka shook her head, "Easy now, Mash. I understand where Lancelot is coming from."

Lancelot gave a small smile to his master and faced back to Karl, "As a former servant to a strong king myself, I want to extend the courtesy of letting you know where we stand. We wind up in strange lands quite often and it is always because something is amiss in the natural flow of that land and we are meant to correct it. Was your King's kingdom always there? Or did it crop up suddenly?"

Karl seemed uncomfortable at the topic but just kept walking as he answered, "The palace was always there but he has only somewhat recently taken to live there and declared himself a nation. He would explain it better but I assure you it was a proclamation of JUSTICE! He did so to protect the people. If you wish to fight him? I don't know if you'd even win so that's fine," Karl laughed, "I am sure you are men of justice and will be able to work with my king to work this matter out perfectly! So let us go, before the sunsets and the fiends come out in full force even outside the wood!"

Ritsuka smiled at Karl, "Lead the way. Even if we come to a disagreement, I will agree to leave peacefully and just be enemies when next we meet. That seems the most fair diplomatic solution."

"A decision befitting a soldier of justice! Let us go! For Justice!" Karl said with a laugh as he led them onwards.

"For Justice!" Rituska repeated with a small chuckle. Mash seemed a bit embarrassed and Lancelot simply shook his head with a small smirk.

"We always meet oddballs because one attracts the other," Lancelot mused quietly to himself, amused.

They walked on with the Knight Karl for some time and eventually they emerged from the place he called the Banewood. Sure enough, it was still day light but the sunset was fast approaching. They saw a town in the distance and significantly further beyond that, they did in fact observe a large castle. A passing thought went through Mash's mind but she dismissed it for now. Still, the sun was low and the castle was far and thinking on what Karl said about the fiends and night time she felt she should ask about that.

"Excuse me, Karl?" Mash began. Karl stopped in his tracks and turned to face her with a confused look upon his face. Mash continued, "Should we take up to rest in the town for the night instead of soldiering all the way to the castle? You said those monsters from the wood are all over at night, right? We could also do to get our bearings a bit better."

"Well, young knight-like lady," Karl began his reply with, "I.. May have exaggerated slightly. The fiends do come out in larger numbers at night but it's not always so overbearing as the attack you faced. As a matter of fact, that was one of the largest concentrated attack of fiends in one spot I've seen in all my years of justicing!"

"Do you think they knew we were foreign to this place and were confused into a frenzy?" Lancelot asked.

"You're better to ask someone else in the Halidom about that," Karl put forth, "I worry about stopping fiends and dispensing heaping helpings of justice! …. I'm not much for little nuances and science stuff."

"The Halidom?" Ritsuka asked.

Lancelot stepped in instead of Karl, "A holy place. Often a shrine or a temple. Sometimes a palace," he looked to Karl now, "Your king rules from a place of divine origins?"

"Well, it's a fancy place but that's about all I can say! You say you want to rest in the town first? I feel it would be wiser to hurry back, lest more trouble follows you. We'd not want to risk the townspeople's wellbeing."

"That's a good point," Ritsuka agreed, "Much as rest would be good, if there is any chance that the fiends are focusing on us because of our origins, we should keep moving. Good foresight, Karl."

Karl laughed but it was a bit more modest than usual. Just a small bit, "There was a time where I was only able to see what was just in front of me. I'd help where I felt I was immediately needed and gave no regards to the consequences of my actions. A few small incidents occurred but I thought little of it. My justice must keep burning, I thought! … Then, one time, my actions caused a good deal of loss and unease to fall upon innocent people. I accidentally aided some petty bandits in obtaining a strong item that helped them raid villages with no chance of being contested."

"That must have made you feel awful," Mash said sadly, "Those poor people…"

"Yes, indeed," Karl didn't mind her being blunt about it, "My flame of justice dwindled down into a small ember. I did some soul searching for a time and then in another crisis, I found myself unable to act. I was too torn on what the right thing to do was. Then Euden came in and solved the issue at the last possible moment before life was potentially lost. He stopped the assault and held the lady accountable for what she had done to aggravate the man in the first place. He explained to me that you need to look at the bigger picture, act on what you need to but hold any guilty parties accountable. Not just the immediate threat. I learned to look at the bigger picture from then on and have been working to better myself ever since. My justice must be the brightest justice that anyone ever justiced!"

Lancelot smirked, "Your conviction is truly that of a knight. All the justice talk is a bit over the top though."

"Think what you may, Good Knight of another land, but I, the Karlsplosion, will always burn brightly with the unquenchable flames of justice! I will become an avatar of justice itself!"

Ritsuka grins to herself but says nothing on the matter. Lancelot sighs and Mash smiles, "Then lead the way, . Daylight's burning."

Karl laughs boisterously and spins on his heel to face forward again, "Right you are, Er..What was your name again?"

"Mash," she replies, "Mash Kyrielight."

"Right! I won't forget it again! You've my word, Lady Kyrielight! Onward now!"

On they walked, as they agreed. They passed through the town and went beyond it. As they passed, Lancelot listened sharply for people talking about anything relevant to give him an idea for the state of the world they're in. He picked up a few odd details but nothing that wasn't already implied by Karl. A corrupt empire here, a just young king there. Also some talk of dragons, however. All in all, aside from the dragon talk, it at least proved that Karl wasn't lying about that and likely not about anything else. Bowing his head to some townsfolk that he makes eye contact with, they got through the town with nobody really questioning them. Must be used to their sort passing through then and being with Karl probably helped, he mused.

Night fell a small bit before they reached the Halidom but they kept marching onward. Ultimately there really wasn't much issue with fiends. A straggler here or there that was very easily dispatched. While the walk was mostly silent, there was the occasional story from Karl about this villain he smashed or that damsel he rescued. It was as amusing a time passer as they could hope for in the situation. Still, in the back of Mash's mind was a question. Why could they not contact Chaldea? must be worried sick and if she was being frank with herself, she was also hoping he'd have some insight on their circumstances. Da Vinci as well would probably have something or other to say. She'd have to worry about it later.

Especially since a short distance before reaching their destination, a large fiend attacked them. It came seemingly out of no where and was the size of a medium sized dragon from their own world, a little smaller than a small cabin. It looked like a larger version of the eyeball monster with wings from earlier and it surprised them by blowing them off of their feet.

"Engaging the enemy!" Mash yelled, "Master, your orders?"

Ritsuka narrowed her eyes at the beast and looked to the Halidom ahead, "We fight it here. We don't want to bring it closer to the palace."

"We dispense justice here and now!" Karl exclaimed, readying his blade, "I like the way you think, Miss!"

"Knight of Owner!" Lancelot yelled as he charged in with a very heavy swing of his blade, causing the beast to close it's eye tightly to shield it. It cut the eyelid and sent it spiraling back through the air but it recovered its composure quickly. The swing left a visible gash on the eyelid but it wasn't too deep.

"It's eyelid is heavy and thick!" Karl explained, "When you're 90% eye, you need to protect yourself somehow I guess!"

Without any warning, the fiend shot a beam of energy out of its eye towards Ritsuka. She dove out of the way at the last possible moment but it reared back and fired another one almost immediately. Mash reacted in time to block this one with her shield and it blasted off into the air before dissipating. Angrily, Mash resigned herself to protecting her master while yearning deeply to beat the green beast until it was black and blue instead. Maybe a touch of red. She had to rely on Karl and the deadbeat for now.

"Soul Ignition!" Karl roared loudly and a faint burning aura surrounded, not just himself, but also Lancelot. He immediately followed up by spinning his sword while it was coated in flames, "Vanquishing Flame!" This attack made impact and sent the fiend into a frenzy. The pain driving it berserk. It's attacks became more sloppy but also unpredictable.

Lancelot feeling the effects of Karl's Soul Ignition decided to capitalize on the beast's frenzy and leapt in with a barrage of attacks that all hit their mark, including closing it out with a rough tackle, his heavy armor impacting pretty rough and knocking it out of the air, "Now's our chance!" he exclaimed.

Karl wasted no time capitalizing on this and the two of them dealt dual decisive blows to the downed demon. With a brief but loud roar of pain, the beast stopped moving and eventually burst into dust, fading away into the air. They were victorious.

"Thanks for the support," Lancelot looked to Karl, "That Soul Ignition, or whatever you called it, really helped invigorate my attacks. It couple really well with my Knight of Owner skill. I just wish I could also apply it others. That's very useful."

"The fight for justice never rests. One should invigorate their allies as well to further bolster defenses against wickedness and..Er..You're welcome," Even Karl started to realize he was getting carried away with his last statement.

With that taken care of, they regroup and head on back towards the palace but before they can, a group of three are also running to meet with them. Karl smiles and waves to them. Telling Mash, Ritsuka and Lancelot to wait behind for a moment, he runs to meet with them. The four of them talk for a while and then Karl heads on to the Halidom without them. The three figures he was talking to all approach them now. They're a blond young man in shades of brown red and white, a young looking woman with dark purple hair in shades of clothes to match and a taller and burly looking man with tan skin and black hair. The large gorilla of a man is in armor and wielding a very large axe, though he doesn't look immediately threatening. Ritsuka then noticed that the blond gentleman also had a sword at his waist though it wasn't drawn and nor was he even in a defensive stance of any kind.

While the blond was relatively young, small and appearing to be non-threatening, Ritsuka sensed a strong power from him. Perhaps it was all of her experience as a master of heroic spirits giving her this intuition, but all she knew was to not take him lightly, despite his kind appearances.

"Hey there," the blond greeted, "Karl caught us up to speed on everything he knew about you. I'm Euden."

The three of them had the immediate reaction to bow slightly, "Thank you for meeting with us, Young King," Lancelot said formally.

"Please," a small laugh from Euden, "There's no need for such formalities. They make me uncomfortable if I'm being honest."

"But I'm pleased to see that this group at least understands proper formalities," the purple twin-tailed girl put forth, "My name is Cleo, as it were."

"And this here is Ranzal," Euden offered while gesturing to the behemoth at his side. His long dark hair a mess.

"It's a pleasure," Mash said politely, "My name is Mash and this is Ritsuka. Also, that's the freeloader Lancelot."

"Freeloader?" Ranzal asked, "Seems to me like he can carry his own quite well if looks say anything."

"Don't mind that," Ritsuka said, "Lancelot and Mash have a bit of a complicated history."

Lancelot hung his head in shame Mash just looked a little embarrassed, "Sorry for my outburst. I was out of line."

"Happens to us all at times," Euden assured her, "So, this may be a weird question but are you three possibly…Not from around here? At all?"

Cleo then stepped in on her friend's hesitation, "He means to say, are you from another dimension or world? The way Karl described that you happened to appear in the Banewood in an area he already patrolled past and were immediately beset by fiends seems to imply as much. Fiends are drawn to otherworld energy."

"Well that was sure blunt," Ranzal commented.

Mash looked in shock, "I have to say, Master, this is the first time we were called out without having to explain much. It's as shocking as it is refreshing."

Lancelot bowed his head lightly, "It is as you say. We woke up and were suddenly in the place you call the Banewood."

"We come from an organization called Chaldea," Ritsuka explained, "I assume the name rings no bells?"

"None at all, I'm afraid," Euden says with a small smile, "Cleo? You've been around a bit. How about you?"

"..While I do not appreciate the implications of your statement, Euden," Cleo began, "No, I have not heard of a Chaldea, even in all of my travels and reading."

"If you'd invite us inside where we are not to be disturbed by fiends, we'd love to elaborate more," Mash began, "We promise to be peaceful even if a disagreement comes about."

"Worst case scenario," Lancelot followed, "We leave to fight another day.. But I don't believe it will come to that. The tidbits of gossip I picked up along the way here paint you in quite the positive light."

"And how can we trust you'll keep to yer word on that?" Ranzal asked.

"I trust them," Euden said earnestly.

"Just like that?!" Ranzal and Mash exclaimed in perfect unison, as if rehearsed.

Cleo winced, "Please quiet down. I don't want to need to nurse a headache on top of cooking dinner tonight."

"Are you certain?" Ritsuka asked, "It's appreciated but unexpected."

"Yeah. You've got no reason to have even brought it up in the first place. If you were really trying to infiltrate, it would have made more sense to avoid the subject but have the response ready if it came up."

"…You're technically not wrong but it still feels reckless," Lancelot offered.

"You're wasting your breath, Lancelot, I assure you," Cleo said with a small sigh, her eyes closed and her massaging the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, "Our King in all of his splendor and magnificence is truly set in his ways."

"That sarcasm hurts, Cleo," Euden said, but it was said with a laugh, "Yes, I'm sure. Please come on in. I'll even set you up with some rooms for the night."

"Your hospitality is a welcome change from our usual adventures," Mash said shamefully, "But I really do not want to be a burden."

"It's no trouble at all. We can share dinner and then discuss whatever it is you need to talk about and we'll see if we can't figure out why you're here. Karl mentioned something about that, right? Our Halidom is completely free of fiends save for the occasionally straggler thanks to protective magics put in place so we'll be free to talk."

"I'll be keeping my eyes on ya, though," Ranzal piped up, "And we got lots of allies what would jump in if you caused trouble. At the drop of a pin."

"That is good to note," Lancelot deadpanned, seemingly not fazed by the indirect threat. Every king needs an over protective brute, so long as he's truly loyal.

With that out of the way, Euden, Cleo and Ranzal led Mash, Ritsuka and Lancelot into the Halidom to be showed around and settled in. There would be time for conversing later, Euden said. He insisted that after a long walk across an unfamiliar land with a guide as over the top, albeit good hearted, as Karl, they should bathe and relax before anything else. Reluctantly, Mash agreed and the rest followed suit. Lancelot, despite Mash's insistence otherwise, guarded the bathing area like a hawk while she bathed. Out of similar duty, he did the same for Ritsuka. While reassuring, it also made her feel a good bit uncomfortable. When asked about it Lancelot insisted that you can never rule out reverse assassinations in situations like that and that he also had heard rumors that across the king's attendants, warriors, vassals and servants there were a couple lady killers. He would rather play it safe on both matters. When the ladies of the party had resettled, he took his own bath. Ritsuka offered to return the favor but he insisted that he could take care of himself and worst case scenario he could be re-summoned at another time. Ritsuka and Mash being alive and well were not in such a circumstance.

Meanwhile, Mash was looking around the castle for somebody to ask about setting up communications with the doctor. There must be somewhere rich in magical energy where their communications could get through. The answer she got was not a pleasant one. While it might be possible to do that and to call forth more heroes, it would not be easy.


End file.
